The mass deportation of illegal migrants by the US authorities may lead to a crisis in the country’s agriculture. This is warned by the Financial Times (FT).
According to the newspaper, the US business community is concerned that the immigration reform of the new president of the country, Donald Trump, may have a detrimental effect on the agricultural sector of the country’s economy, which “cannot function without migrant workers.” The publication notes that the dairy industry will be especially vulnerable in this regard, since the US immigration policy provides the opportunity to obtain a special visa only for seasonal workers engaged in the collection of fruits and vegetables, and does not provide such an option for dairy workers who come not for one season, but for a long time.
According to Tyler Wentzlaff, head of the GR department of the Wisconsin Farm Federation, in this regard, many illegal migrants “work on farms for years,” and their activities make a tangible contribution to the economy. “We support the deportation of criminals, but we need a reliable workforce in Wisconsin,” Wentzlaff emphasizes. “If there are no migrant workers, there will be no milk, no cheese, no butter, no ice cream. We will all have to go vegan,” John Rosenow, a farmer from this state, explained to the FT. He expressed doubt that limiting the influx of illegal immigrants will lead to an increase in the number of workers among “native Americans.” According to Daniel Ortega, an economist at Michigan State University, about 40% of the 2.4 million workers in US agriculture are not allowed to work in the country. “They play an important role that many US-born workers either cannot or do not want to fulfill,” he noted, explaining that mass deportation could lead to higher food prices. The newspaper also cites statistics from the National Council of Agricultural Employers in the US, according to which only 337 native-born Americans applied for vacancies in the agricultural sector in 2020. During that period, the number of corresponding job advertisements exceeded 97.6 thousand.